Calendar watch with correction device for the date ring



Sept. 9, 1969 u. GIGER ETAL 3,465,513

CALENDAR WATCH WITH CORRECTION DEVICE FOR THE DATE RING Filed May 9, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 9, 1969 165}; ET Al. 3,465,513

CALENDAR WATCH WITH CORRECTION DEVICE FOR THE DATE RING Filed May 9, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 HUI] Se t. 9 1969 u. GIGER ET Al. 3,465,513

CALENDAR WATCH WITH CORRECTION DEVICE FOR THE DATE RING Filed May 9, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 76b I6 I60 20 2/ I5 28 77 I4 I I I3 23 22 FIE. 4.-

United States Patent 3,465,513 CALENDAR WATCH WITH CORRECTION DEVICE FOR THE DATE RING Urs Giger, Solothurn, and Edwin F. Jakob-Schild, Grenchen, Switzerland, assignors to Eta A.G. Ebauches- Fabrik, Grenchen, Soleure, Switzerland Filed May 9, 1968, Ser. No. 728,220 Claims priority, application Switzerland, May 11, 1967,

6,680/ 67 Int. Cl. G04b 19/24 US. Cl. 58-58 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A calendar watch with correction device for the date ring comprising reciprocal movement of the stem which pivots a setting lever which pivots a swing lever which has a drive member biased in engagement with crown toothing on the radial face of said date ring for unidirectional rotation, said biased drive member sliding over crown toothing during return stroke of stem.

The object of the present invention is a calendar watch having a correction device for the date ring in which the date ring, by displacement of the winding stem, can be set into a third axial position which difiers from the position of winding and the position for the setting of the hands.

In the known calendar watches of this type, the correction device for the date ring is composed of such a large number of parts that it is not only extremely complicated, but that, in addition, it cannot be arranged in the movement without increasing the total structural height of the latter. In other words, up to now, a correction device which could be controlled by the winding stern could not be subsequently installed in the movement of a given calendar watch, and particularly a flat calendar watch, which originally did not have any special correction device.

The object of the present invention is now to crete a calendar watch of the aforementioned type in which the correction device for the date ring itself can be inserted in a flat watch movement which was originally designed without such a correction device.

This objective is achieved in accordance with the present invention by a calendar watch of the aforementioned type which is characterized by the fact that the date ring is displaceable by means of a tongue which moves under spring action parallel to the axis of the movement, is located below the date ring and cooperates with a crown toothing thereon, and is freely rotatable on a swing lever alongside the setting lever and actuatable by the latter.

One embodiment by way of example of the calendar watch in accordance with the invention is shown in the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan View, with the date ring shown broken away, and at the same time showing the winding and setting positions;

FIG. 2 is a similar plan view, directly after the position of the date ring has been corrected;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1, in the setting position; and

FIG. 4 is a section along the line IVIV of FIG. 1, in winding position.

The calendar watch shown has a setting lever 2 which is swingable on the plate 1 in customary manner about a setting-lever screw, the said lever bearing a nose 5 which extends into a recess 3 in the winding stem 4. When the winding stem is in the customary winding position, the setting lever 2 assumes the position shown in solid line in FIG. 1, while it will be in the position shown in dot-dash line when the winding stem 4 has been pulled out into the setting position. As customary, these two positions of the setting lever 2 and thus of the winding stem 4 are determined by two notches 7, 8 provided on a setting-lever spring 6 which hold in position a pin 9 which extends perpendicularly on the setting lever 2.

In addition to the two axial positions shown in FIG. 1, the winding stem 4 can also be pulled beyond the setting position into a third position. When the winding stem 4 has been pulled out of its setting position into the said third position, the pin 9 of the setting lever 2 first of all moves out of the notch 8 and then slides along the distance 10 of the side surface of the setting-lever spring 6 (see also FIG. 2). The path 10 is so directed as compared with the center of swing of the setting lever 2 that when the winding stem is pulled out, the setting-lever spring 6 is tensioned to an increasing extent. The watch furthermore has a date ring 11 driven in the customary manner from the movement, the said date ring being held by a stop lever (not shown in the drawing) at all times in a position around the axis of the movement in which one of the thirty-one dates 12 present on this ring is visible in a window opening (not shown) in the dial.

The position of the ring 11 can be properly adjusted by a correction device controlled by the winding stem 4 via the setting lever 2 at any time, i.e., at the end of months having less than thirty-one days or after a lengthy period during which the watch has not been used, such as, for instance, upon the sale thereof, without changing the position of the bands. This correction device consists essentially of a swing lever 14 arranged alongside of the setting lever 2 and swingable about a pin 13 provided in the plate 1, said swing lever bearing a drive member such as a spring tongue 15 which is rotatable freely with respect to it. The drive member 15 comprises a free end portion (FIGURE 3) which normally engages said toothing but which is axially displaceable along a direction parallel to the movement axis away from said toothing. In relaxed condition, the tongue 15 lies in the position shown in FIG. 3 in which its free end engages in a crown toothing 16 recessed in the bottom of the date ring 11. As can be noted from FIGURE 4, the toothing 16 is provided along a shoulder portion 17 of the date ring. The toothing can be formed, for example, by embossing, that is: axially comprising the material of the ring in the areas corresponding to the spaces between teeth 16. This can be effected without any great labor, since a tooth height of approximately 0.1 mm. is entirely suflicient. The crown toothing 16 consists of thirty-one square teeth uniformly distributed around the ring 11, as shown in FIG. 2. The front flanks 16a of these teeth are perpendicular to the date ring 11, while the rear flanks 16b are oblique.

The spring tongue 15 is provided with a pierced lug 18 bent off at a right angle which cooperates, on the one hand, with a vertical projection 19 of the plate 1 to guide the spring tongue 15 and, on the other hand, with a nose 20 of the setting lever 2 in winding position. In the position of the setting lever 2 shown in solid line in FIG. 1 the nose 20 extends into the opening of the lug 18 (see also FIG. 4) and thus holds the spring tongue 15 out of engagement. The date ring 11 can accordingly be advanced without obstacle by its ordinary drive device (not shown). When the winding stem 4 is pulled out of the winding position, the nose 20 emerges out of the opening of the lug 18 so that the spring tongue 15 comes into the position shown in FIG. 3 in which it is in engagement with the crown toothing 16. The transfer from the hand-setting to the winding position takes place for the spring tongue 15 in the manner that the beveled lower surface 21 of the nose 20 slides over the lower edge surface of the opening of the lug 18. The spring tongue 15 can not in this connection move away, for instance, by turning around its pivot pin 28, since in the position shown in FIG. 1 its lug 18 strikes against the side surface of the swing lever 14.

The swing lever 14 is held fast axially on its pivot pin 13 by a projection 22 which engages below an undercut edge 23 of the plate 1. The position of the swing lever 14 around the pin 13 is determined by the setting lever 2. For this purpose, the swing lever 14 is under the action of a return spring 24 which presses the lever 14 against a hub portion 25 of the setting lever 2 when the latter is in the winding or in the hand-setting position (FIG. 1).

The swing lever 14 is positively struck against the action of the spring 24 by an arm 26 of the setting lever 2. In the winding position of the setting lever 2, the arm 26 is far away from the swing lever 14, while this arm 26 contacts the swing lever 14 in the hand-setting position of the setting lever 2 (FIG. 1). In the hand-setting position thus the arm 26 is ready to knock the swing lever 14 away from the setting lever 2. The swinging movement of the lever 14 in counterclockwise direction commences a soon as the winding stem 4 has been pulled further out of its hand-setting position and it terminates when the winding stem has reached its outermost position which is determined by a stop (not shown) which cooperates with the setting lever 2 (FIG. 2).

During the swinging movement of the lever 14, the spring tongue 15 remains in engagement with the crown toothing 16, its free end portion being held within the width of the toothing Which width is defined by an inner and outer circumferential outline which, respectively, are comprised by the inner edge or periphery of shoulder portion 17 and the axially extending shoulder 16c of the ring. Since said inner edge is radially open towards the axis of the ring, the member 15 is prevented from displacing radially towards said axis by a guide member 19 which extends along said toothing radially inwardly thereof. As is seen in FIGURE 2, there is thus produced a relative rotary movement of the tongue 15 with respect to the swing lever when the latter swings under the action of the arm 26. In this connection, the spring tongue 15 moves tangentially with respect to the date ring 11. The angle of swing of the lever 14 is such that the free end of the spring tongue 15 moves the ring 11 forward one step each time that the winding stem 4 is pulled out. However, it is sufficient for the tongue 15 to push the ring 11 to such an extent that the customary stop lever (not shown) of this ring passes beyond the point of one of the customary stepping teeth 27. This occurs when the date ring is pushed by the spring tongue 15 by approximately /3 of a step.

During the return movement, the tongue 15 is held fast in its tangential position with respect to the ring 11 by a projection 19 on the plate 1.

As compared with a calendar watch without special correction device for the date ring, the watch described has only two additional parts, namely the swing lever 14 and the corresponding spring 24. Since these parts are not arranged above the setting lever but alongside of it, no additional space is thereby taken up between the plate and the dial. The same applies also to the crown toothing 16 of the date ring, since it can be made merely by compressing the material of an ordinary date ring. The thickness of the plate need also not be changed. The approximatley radial swing lever 14 and its return spring 24 are located in the vicinity of the winding stem where the bridge-side of the plate does not have any deep cavity. In other words, even in the case of flat movements which were originally manufactured without correction device for the date ring, suflicient material is always present at that point of the plate to be able to produce therefrom the recesses on the dial side of the plate necessary for the swing lever 14 and its return spring 24 without producing openings therein. The correction devices described can therefore even be installed in watchworks which were originally not planned with such a device.

What is claimed is:

1. A calendar watch having a rotatable date ring and a winding stem, said stem being axially displaceable into any of three positions, a first of which corresponds to a winding position relative to the watch movement, a second of which corresponds to a hand-setting position, and a third of which corresponds to a correction position relative to said date ring, a correction means including a crown toothing along a radial face of said date ring, a drive member engageable with said toothing for driving said ring, a setting lever connected to said stem so as to pivot in accordance with axial displacements of said .stem, a swing, lever acted upon by said setting lever so as said drive member being freely pivoted on said swing lever to pivot about an axis parallel to the axis of the watch movement, said drive member being located axially to one side of said date ring and having a portion thereof normally tending to engage said toothing but being displaceable in an axial direction parallel to the movement axis away from said crown toothing, said drive member being arranged to move along a circumferential extent of said ring pursuant to pivoting of said swing lever.

2. The calendar watch of claim 1, wherein axial displacement of said stem to said third position eifects a pivoting of said setting lever which in turn effects a pivoting of said swing lever in a first direction whereby said drive member is'displaced along the rotative direction of said ring, and including a return spring acting upon said swing lever to urge same in a second pivot direction opposite to said first direction.

3. The calendar watch of claim 1, said swing lever being arranged relative to said setting lever whereby the extent of pivoting of the latter pursuant to axial displacement of said stem into said third position from a one of the other mentioned axial positions thereof effects an extent of pivoting of said swing lever such that said drive member moves along said circumferential path an extent corresponding to a one-step displacement of said date ring.

4. The calendar watch of claim 1, said setting lever including a nose which is engageable with said drive member portion when said setting lever is in a pivot position corresponding to said stem being in said first position, said nose displacing said drive member portion axially away from and out of engagement with said toothing.

5. The calendar watch of claim 1, said date ring having a radial face defined by an annular shoulder portion having an inner peripheral edge, said crown toothing being for-med along said shoulder portion adjacent to said edge.

6. The calendar watch of claim 5, said toothing being defined by circumferentially spaced apart teeth the spaces between which constitute axially compressed portions of the material of which said ring is constituted.

7. The calendar watch of claim 5, the width of said toothing being defined by an inner and an outer circumferential outline, the inner outline being radially open towards the axis of said ring and the outer outline being References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1952 Marchand 58-58 FOREIGN PATENTS 254,307 12/1948 Switzerland. 351,221 2/1961 Switzerland.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner GEORGE H. MILLER, 1a., Assistant Examiner 

